Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Gold prices on Tuesday surged to an all-time high after India’s central bank bought 200 tonnes of the precious metal, swapping dollars for bullion as the country’s finance minister warned the economies of the US and Europe had “collapsed”.

India’s decision to exchange $6.7bn for gold equivalent to 8 per cent of world annual mine production sent the strongest signal yet that Asian countries were moving away from the US currency.

The purchase by New Delhi’s Reserve Bank from the International Monetary Fund pushed gold prices to a record $1,086.10 per troy ounce, up 2.6 per cent on the day, as traders bet that other central banks would also become buyers.

Just as we are told that the recession is over, our ally and nuclear power, India, proclaims that our economy has collapsed. That can't be good news.